Two in five share traders in profit over last year, study finds

Thirty-nine per cent of UK retail share traders say they have made money buying and selling shares in the past year despite market volatility, research from GraniteShares has found.

According to the study, the numbers claiming to have made money outweigh those who have lost out – with 34% of share traders admitting to losing money on their trading.

Another 14% of traders estimated that they broken even while 13% revealed they did not know whether they are up or down on the year.

GraniteShares’ findings, based on research among 1,078 UK adults, revealed that just one in 12 (8%) of retail share traders claimed to have made big profits in the year, with 31% admitting their returns were small.

The research also found the average spending on buying shares in the past year is estimated at more than £2,600. Around a quarter (24%) of retail traders, however, revealed they spent more than £5,000 in the past year.

GraniteShares founder and CEO, Will Rhind, commented: “The past year has seen high levels of volatility with a swing of nearly 1,000 points from the FTSE’s high to its low and markets worldwide have been similar.

“It is quite interesting to see that more retail share traders seem to have made money than lost it in the past year, and that there are a large number of people who have been trading for the long time as the research shows.

“It is also the case that there is a growing number of sophisticated investors in the UK who see opportunities from market volatility, which is reflected in the demand for products such as short and long ETPs which provide the flexibility needed to help navigate volatile market swings on both the long and short sides.”

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